Intensive Interaction

Intensive Interaction

Some types of autistic children will respond to what’s
known as “intensive interaction”.

This is a type of therapy designed for children who are
in the earliest stages of communication or who can’t
communicate at all.

It is a method developed in the 1980s along the works
of Geraint Ephraim PhD, who was a psychologist working
at the long-stay hospitals affiliated with the
Harperbury Hospital School in Herefordshire, England.

The basics of intensive interaction is that the
therapist works with the child undergoing progressively
developing enjoyable and relaxed interactive sequences
between the autistic child and the interaction partner.

Gradually, the interactions are increased in complexity
and sophistication until the child slowly learns
and mimics the behavior and the communication style
of the partner.

In intensive interaction, the activity is directed
by the child and the teacher joins in and communicates
simply with the child.

The goals are to learn to give brief attention to
another person, to develop shared attention into
“activities”, to take turns exchanging behavior, to
have fun and play, to understand eye contact and
understand facial expressions.

Autistic children can learn non-verbal communication
such as gestures and body language.

Eventually, the child learns vocalizations that become
increasingly meaningful.

Researchers have looked into intensive interaction
in severely autistic children and have found that
this naturalistic approach appears to be effective
in enhancing sociability and communication in these
children.

While it doesn’t seem to work for everyone, many
children gain in communication from completely
non-verbal and not associated with the world to
being able to communicate through gestures, eye
contact or even verbal communication.

The Parenting Autism Resource Guide: A Complete Resource Guide For Parents Who Have Children Diagnosed With Autism.